SHORT-TERM RELIEF:IHS Markit said that Samsung’s strategy to shift from LCD panels to 8K displays would benefit Taiwanese and South Korean manufacturers

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 20, 2019
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達) is poised to benefit from the imminent shutdown of a Samsung Display Co G8.5 fab, as the South Korean firm shifts away from LCD panel manufacturing, market researcher IHS Markit said on Thursday.

Beginning this month, Samsung Display plans to retire a G8.5 fab, L8, in two phases and convert it to make high-resolution 8K TV displays that use its Quantum Dot-OLED technology, the market researcher said, adding that this would reduce supply of LCD substrates by 125,000 units a month.

“South Korean and Taiwanese LCD panel makers are facing mounting pressure to transform quicker amid the rise of China,” David Hsieh (謝勤益), a senior display industry analyst with IHS Markit, told an annual display forum in Taipei.

To fend off competition from China, Taiwanese and South Korean companies are being forced to retire or covert older-generation fabs to make niche products as those fabs cannot match China’s new G10.5 fabs, Hsieh said.    [FULL  STORY]